Tag Archives: Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin- Killed Without Reason

On February 26th, everyone in the state of Florida was doing everything that they normally did. This also goes for Trayvon Martin, a young 17-year old boy. Trayvon was into sports. His favorites were basketball and football. But that day, Martin would be forever blockaded from playing sports again. Who was the one who stopped this boy’s life, you ask? George Zimmerman. This is how the event played out. Trayvon had just gone to the convenience store and was now coming back to his father’s fiancee’s house. He had his hood up and his hands in his pockets. Zimmerman was following Martin while talking to police dispatcher after calling 911. Soon after, a fight broke out between them. A gunshot sounded and an innocent 17-year old boy was murdered. And George Zimmerman wasn’t even charged.

When you think of Florida you think of  a happy, sunny place with Cinderella’s Castle rising up into the sky. Well as you can see from the details of Trayvon Martin’s death, it’s not.. Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which allows citizens to shoot and kill anyone anywhere if they feel threatened. In other words, if someone was walking on the street and they look “threatening”, anyone would have the right to walk up to that person and shoot them. After the murder of Martin, the “stand your ground” laws are sparking commotion and unrest, as they should. The number of homicides in Florida has gone from 12 to 33 a year, which is nearly triple. This isn’t another terrorist attack or a war; these unjustifiable killings are going on in our own country. The United States of America must rise up against these “self-defense” laws and obliterate them, so that those guilty of murder, such as George Zimmerman, may be corrected. And so that Trayvon Martin, and other innocent victims, may rest in peace.

~Nazar Chowdhury

Trayvon Martin murder: Was Race a Factor?

On February 26, 17 year old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida. The killing has since then blown up to the national stage, with millions of people speaking out against the murder of Trayvon. People are outraged because the shooter, Zimmerman, has not been arrested yet or detained by police and his excuse was that he did it in self defence. But, people are questioning this statement and whether or not Trayvon’s race had something to do with it.

On that day, Trayvon was walking back to his house in the neighborhood. Zimmerman spotted him and made a 911 call and said that Trayvon looked “suspicious”, and possibly using a racial slur and saying that “these ******* always get away”. He then chased Trayvon after Trayvon started to run away, even though Zimmerman was advised not to by the operator. Then there was a scuffle and a scream for help (apparently Trayvon) and then gunshots, the ones that killed Trayvon. Apparently, Trayvon was “suspicious” because he had a hoodie on low. But, many say it was because of that and the fact that he was an African American. He was stereotyped by George Zimmerman to be up to no good, even though he was unarmed and all he had was a pack of skittles and ice tea. The African-American community has spoken out and believe that this was a racial killing, and because that Zimmerman was white/hispanic, the cops and law enforcement let him go. To protest this, there will be a 1 million hoodie march in honor of Trayvon and to bring justice to the innocent teen.

~Ben Fei